Costa Verde

Costa Verde is everything I dreamed it would be. Mountain, sea, sand dunes, blooming foliage, and beautiful sunsets. I have totally lost track of time here.

I began my adventure when I arrived in Arbus by bus on Sunday afternoon. Everything was closed when I arrived, and I was anxious to begin hiking, so I set off not really sure what the night would hold in store for me. I ended up walking about 7 miles to the next town, Montevecchio where I found an agriturismo for the night.

Next day, I found my trail and headed for the coast. I arrived pretty exhausted about 8 hours and around 12 miles later to find that I now had to traverse the sand dunes I had been seeking (not so easy with a heavy pack). That complete, I thought surely the little resort here would have some food for me. I would be wrong. There were a couple of guys there getting ready for the upcoming season, but they weren’t open. Crackers and honey for dinner it is! I found a beautiful campsite, and although exhausted, was energized to take some photos of the beautiful surroundings.

Next morning I woke up feeling much better, but sure wasn’t looking forward to donning that pack. Loaded up and started heading North up the road to the next resort or town to get some food. I passed two more resort areas with the same results – nothing open. I finished the last of my food (luckily I still had water and had also filtered some for an emergency), and kept going. Luckily, the next town had one bar open. Scarfed one panini and ordered two more for the road. I think I walked a ridiculous 15-17 miles that day before I reached my goal.

I am writing tonight from a little town called Torre dei Corsini. I found a nice little apartment here overlooking the main piazza and the sea. The people are very nice and I even found an open supermercato! I managed to acquire a large blister after yesterday’s trek, so I’m hopeful to find transportation to the next city tomorrow (the buses don’t run here this time of year).

Despite the self-imposed hardships, I am absolutely loving this place – so beautiful and peaceful.

Whew, think I’m somewhat caught up on the blogs now – time for some shut-eye

Buonanotte

 « prev      1   2      next »  
(14 Photos)

Cagliari

My experience in Cagliari was especially memorable – mainly because of all the wonderful people I met.

I stayed here with my couchsurfing host and friend, Francesca. I could not have asked for a friendlier, nicer experience. From the beginning, she went out of her way to make me feel at home.

First night – after I missed my bus stop and made Francesca walk several blocks out of her way – we immediately went for some fabulous Napoli-style pizza at a local restaurant – yum! Next were a couple of Sardinian beers with friends.

Friday, I spent a good part of the day walking around Cagliari. Beautiful, busy city with a good bus system (lucky for me). That evening, Francesca hosted a party for me, another couchsurfing guest, and a great group of her friends. What a great bunch of people – lots of fun, great local food, Sardinian music, and highly entertaining conversation.

Saturday, we hit the beach for a while – doing the walking circuit in and out of the bars on the beach to see who was out. Not many people on the beach in swimwear – still a bit nippy – most everyone was wearing a jacket and sitting outside at a bar enjoying coffee or beer of some variety. Saturday night was some great local seafood and a bit of the nightlife in Cagliari. Many more laughs and great conversation. We decided to form a new language “Englitalian”

I don’t think I went to sleep before 2 a.m. any night I was there, but I never felt tired. Such great people – I am very thankful for the experience! Anyone ever wants to visit Colorado, you know who to look up!

Sunday, it was goodbye to my new friends and off to the bus station and Costa Verde on the West coast of Sardinia…

 « prev      1   2      next »  
(13 Photos)

Last stop in Sicily: Cefalu

Greetings from Cefalu, Sicily. Cefalu is a beautiful town on the North coast of Sicily, just East of Palermo.

I ended up staying at a monastery here and it was a great experience. I usually enjoy a quiet stay at a monastery once in a while and this fit the bill perfectly. The ladies were very friendly and interested in my travels (though I frustrated them a bit I think because I couldn’t understand all of their questions ) I had a room with a beautiful view of the sea and Aeolian islands.

Cefalu is pretty touristy with the main emphasis on shopping. However, one can bypass this fairly easily. There is a huge “rock” (mountain) on the edge of town called “La Rocca”. It is a nice climb to the top with a smattering of rewards along the way in the form of ancient ruins – fortress walls, homes, a castle, and a church, among other things.

A quick tour of this sweet spot, and I’m off to Palermo in the morning and a short flight to Cagliari, Sardinia.

Ciao for now..

Aeolian Wrap-up

Today was an easy-going kind of day. A good day. Went to bed early last night after taking another hike around Stromboli (a much tamer one this time). Got up late, grabbed a banana and the Grancereale (kind of a granola bar in cookie form) that I’ve become accustomed to. I’ve been working on a light breakfast, (mid-morning snack depending on activity), fairly big lunch, and light dinner routine. That has been working out nicely to distribute my energy throughout the day, not be to loaded down or sleepy for activity, and works well with the budget.

After breakfast, checked out, said arrivaderci to my restaurateur hosts and walked down to the port to wait for the boat to Vulcano. Vulcano, being closer to Sicily, is more touristed – although I highly recommend this time of year – not hot, fewer people. The only downside is many places aren’t open yet. However, even being a holiday (Italians and many other Europeans also celebrate Easter on Monday), I still was able to find everything I needed (except an open grocery store). The crater at Volcano is long dormant. It now just vents stinky sulfur fumes. The hike was relatively easy and around 2-3 hours round trip. For as easy as the hike is, the views are tremendous.

It’s amazing how different the local cultures are on each island. It may be because it’s the most remote of the islands, but Stromboli had a much warmer feel. Nearly everyone I passed there in my wanderings sent a nice, informal “ciao” my way.

Well, this concludes my Aeolian island adventure. Tomorrow it’s back to Sicily. I believe I’ll hit Taormina and then on to Cefalu.

Addio per ora..

Easter Update

Happy Easter Everyone! Today I decided to take a slight breather from my crazy schedule so far and stay an extra day here in Stromboli.

To catch you up: Friday morning (early, wayy too early), I managed to decipher the Flemish and French signs well enough to find my way to the Metro, the train station and eventually the airport. I had a great flight to Sicily sandwiched between a Sicilian and a Turk (who both lived in Brussels) on my right and their wives and a daughter on the left. Boy can those guys talk! If the conversation lulls for more than 5 minutes, they’re out of their seat and up to the front of the plane to BS with another buddy They were both extremely nice – constantly offering me snacks and talking about anything and everything in a confusing mixture of English, Italian and French.

Italian airports (particularly small airports) are very entertaining to me. Airports are always interesting, but here, guys are climbing on the baggage conveyor to get their bags and huge cheers go up when a conveyor starts up after what seems an eternity of inactivity. Now my task was to find my way to Castroreale via train after somehow finding a Vodaphone store and acquiring a SIM card for my iPhone. I found a taxi driver at the airport willing to take me to the nearest store and wait while I got my card – very nice. He was insulted when I automatically put my seat belt on in the car, so I obliged him to not wear it

Around 3 hours and two trains later I arrived at Barcellona (no, not Spain) stazione. From here I caught a ride to my hostel in Castroreale.  The host picked me up at the station with his two friends – it seems there were in the midst of getting down to to the Easter celebrations (here it is more about the pagan roots of the holiday it seems – carnivals, etc. in the streets – everything blocked off). So, obviously in a hurry to get back to the party, I was whisked around town, dodging scooters and traffic, up into the hills to a small medieval castle.

It seems I was the only guest, so I was given the whirlwind tour, keys to the place, and directions to the bus stop and my host was off to the party! The castle was quite cool, but a bit odd staying by myself in a room full of bunk beds. I was exhausted, so I decided with the best of intentions to hit the sack and then get up early to take some photos. I completely slept through my alarm and casually awoke at 6:41 with the warnings of my host from the night before in my head: “if you don’t catch the 7:05 bus, you will have to find and pay for a taxi to take you into town.” So, in a flurry of charging cords and clothing and luggage, I managed to pack and lock up (without locking myself or my stuff in or out – not an easy task with the finicky doors and gates) and run past the psychotic dog (let’s call him Gollum) strategically placed on the corner I had to pass. I was almost certain this dog was going to strangle himself on his leash trying to show how tough he was. So I ran down the cobblestone streets and arrived at the bus stop at 7:59 – whew – made it!!

Now I’ll just take a few photos until the bus arrives. 10 minutes late – well, this IS Italy. 20 minutes late – it is also remote Italy. 45 minutes late – ask an old man walking by – quando prossimo autobus? Otto was the answer – a whole hour early for my bus – I could have taken some photos if only my partying host had given me correct information (then again, maybe I would have just overslept longer ) From Barcellona, I managed to squeeze the proper information out of my grumpy bus driver on how to get to Milazzo – the port.

Upon arrival in Stromboli a few hours later aboard a hydrofoil boat, I was greeted by a nice man offering me accommodation (that’s how they do it there). I didn’t want to stay in one of the two (maybe three) hotels, so I hesitantly accepted his offer for “a room his friend has”. I was loaded into one of those little lawn-mower-engine-powered mini trucks and we zoomed up the narrow streets to a ristorante. The driver beckoned noisily to the owner to arrange the room with me. We came to terms, but he said I must wait trenti minuti while he and a large group of friends in his dining room watched some more of the soccer match being played on the tiny screen in corner.  I rather enjoyed just waiting and watching this extremely close group of local friends enjoy each other’s company.

I eventually got into my room and had just enough time to get into my hiking gear, buy some water and luckily catch the last spot on a guided tour of the volcano. Since some fatalities in 2003 & 2007 (I don’t know the details), a guide is required above 400m when hiking the volcano. The police also only allow each group only 10 minutes of viewing at the top. The trip was spectacular. We saw a fair amount of activity from the crater – something I have never seen in person before. The hike lasted about 5 hours. I had read somewhere about using gaiters to keep the volcanic sand out of your boots and I’m sure glad I did – coming down was like walking down a sand dune in many places.

So today, I will be enjoying a little rest, but may have to take another hike. Enjoy your holiday!